The objective of the proposed research is to investigate methos for reducing the concentrations of cotton dust in the workplace utilizing less costly and, hopefully, more effective techniques than those currently available. Proposed standards for exposure to cotton dust were promulgated on December 28, 1976, to protect workers from byssinosis. The economic, energy, and inflationary impacts for meeting these standards by current technology are quite severe, and in many cases, it is doubtful whether the compliance costs can be met. The methodology to be employed in the proposed research is to process cotton in an isolated model card room, measure the dust concentration generated in the room on a large variety of aerosol samplers, and to collect the airbourne respirable cotton dust fo study by other investigators. Cottons of known genetic, growing,cultivating, harvesting, ginning, and processing history will be processed to determine the influence of these factors on dust concentrations. Intervention studies, such as steaming and processing variations such as the use of antistatic finished and lubricants will be carried out. The influence of blending with synthetic fibers will also be examined. Additional benefits expected to be realized from the study include assessment of the suitability of using alternative simpler samplng devices, and collecting relatively large quantities of documented samples of respirable cotton dust which can be utilized by other investigators for chemical, biological, and medical studies.